It's hard to be away from family during Christmas. I always anticipate going to grandma's for Christmas or being in Panama.  This year is a bit different. I have a family that has taken me as their own here in Bolivia and I know it will be a blast, but I still miss being with family. 
I really  enjoy the reflection that I always do during advent season.  I'm so grateful for the expectation fulfilled and the rememberance of that during this season.  I like to reflect on the past year. 
For now, here is a list of things I want to do over Christmas break:
1.  be creative (collage, paint, crotchet and journal)
2. ride my bike a long way
3. hang out with the Baker boys.  maybe go to a park, a movie or something adventurous (they are fun kids).
4. organize a bit here at the house
5.  read a couple books
6. Explore a bit more of the amazing city I live in (the other day we drove by this cemetary that I want to try to find.  It's so brightly colored
7.  Go to the 16 market that is like a huge, huge yard sale and explore.  It's just fun to see the treasures that they have there. 
8.  Hang out with my Bolivian family which are absolutely FUN.

The other day I found the used bookstore section of La Paz and I'm so excited.  I love used bookstores. I read a lot here since I take public transportation and I do A LOT of waiting in this country.  I'm trying to finish a few more books that are on the shelf before I hit the used bookstore section

A taste of Bolivia today:  I have been approved for my year visa, so now I have to get an ID.  So, I went to get it today.  Well, I couldn't get the ID because their printer at immigration ran out of ink.....Oh Bolivia...

I've had a few great moments in the last couple of weeks.  One was getting to see DJ Tiesto in La Paz last week.  It was such an amazing concert.  I also went to see the Symphony play a FREE Christmas concert at the San Fransisco church which is one of my favorite places in La Paz.  The symphony was BEAUTIFUL. I hope they do it every year because it will be a tradition for me. 

Merry Christmas friends!

well, life is still going on here in El Alto.  The busses are still crowded, men still pee in random and very public places and it still gets on my nerves, there are still cute Bolivian babies, friends that shine shoes, friends to share lunch with, yummy coffee in the morning, mountains to marvel at, places in El Alto where I discover awesome views of the valley, yummy meals to eat (I made a killer shepherd's pie yesterday), I still like to go to bed at 9 PM, Heather's chair is still comforting, sunny days are still pretty, amazing sunsets still amaze me, beautiful prayers are still heard,  the presence of One much greater than myself is still felt, I'm surrounded with grace and LOVE. 

Here is a prayer I came across the other day that I really like:

I beg you to keep me in this silence so that I may learn from it
  the word of your peace
  and the word of your mercy
  and the word of your gentleness to the world;
  and that through me perhaps the word of peace may make itself heard
  where it has not been possible for anyone to hear it for a long time
-Thomas Merton

I wrote this last week and wanted to share a bit of what life is like here sometimes:

So today we needed to hire somebody to carry all the rubish leftover from the wall bashing that the bricklayers did.  So, my co-worker and I ventured out to the back side of the Ceja to find a willing man.  Did we ever!!!! We walked along the street where we knew the men who wanted work were standing (if you live in Nashville picture the corner of Thompson and Murfreesboro road at aroudn 8 AM with all the latinos looking for work).  One man finally asked us what we needed and we told him....well in a matter of 2 seconds we had every man in the vicinity around us (at least 20 men)...invading our personal space offering to help us.  I was almost in tears at one point, because I didn't know what to do.  I eventually told all the men wasn't going to hire any of them and walked away with my co-worker.  There were a few insistant friends and we ended up hiring 2 guys after getting chased by two others who offered a higher price.  It was a bit overwhelming.  They got the job done after a lot of complaining about the 4 flights of stairs, bla bla bla.